raised bed garden

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I've read a enough about raised bed gardening to know I'd like to try it. I can't even dig a post hole here without a backhoe our ground is so rocky here in upstate NY.What I would like to know is what soil mixture that is best to use in a raised bed garden.What mixture fo soil,mulch,sand,gravel bottom or not ,manure or whatever and what ratio of one to another?Thanks in advance for your help.

-- larry spearman (lspearma@exotrope.net), January 09, 2001

Answers

Larry, I have used raised beds because I had DEAD clay. Some of the stuff I actually made pinch pots out of and they lasted all summer. Yucky. I would reccommend going the lasagna gardening method, and just using some dirt that at least has a slight scent to it. You just lay down thick layer of newspaper and then greens or grass clippings then a little soil then a good mulch. in a short time this will develop into actual soil, you just keep adding organic matter in layers to it. Manure is fabulous ,just make sure it's composted, or composting after you've built the beds. If you can get a load of good loamy topsoil to use, black is generally the best! (I love that everything says "plant in loam with good drainage"...rather limiting to us without loam!) The most important thing to remember is that you can make your own growing medium that will turn into lovely soil over time.........Good Luck.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), January 09, 2001.

I had the same experience with both rocks and clay. Where the garden was to be placed (didn't have any choice, living on a small mountain- side) was almost perfect. Other than the rocks, clay, and many stumps to deal with. It had morning, early and mid-afternoon sun. At the time, we didn't have the finances for any type of building material to make our beds from. So we used what was at hand. Trees that had been felled. Basically hauled them in place where we wanted them, staked them in place with spikes then spiked the logs together. We have two 30'x 4' and two 15'x 4' beds. And we did this in I believe July, four years prior. Then we had to dig the soil area within the logs because the depth was only six to eight inches and I wanted a deeper depth for whatever I was going to grow. So with a pick, shovel, an ax and alot of sweat, blisters and determination mixed in with frustration, we managed to get another six inches down. The ax was for the two stumps in the area, the roots traveled incredibly far and so we took care of them. Then, we bought some 'topsoil' from a local farmer. Of course it was the same clay and rocks as our own soil. With more sweat and sore muscles, we bucketed the ton or so of soil from where it had been dumped to the garden. It took some time, but we managed to get the soil into the beds, removing the majority of rocks while shoveling. When it was done, we were thankful. That first year, much didn't grow, being mostly clay and pebbles. But each spring we would buy twenty bags of potting soil when it was on sale and rototil it in. That was rough work, the tines in the front and it's rocking and jumping because the soil had compacted, it just wouldn't dig in! But amazingly, as each year passed, we'd add more and more of the potting soil, as some fertilizer pellets, sprinkling of this and that, it happened. The soil is now productive, each spring when rototiled, it has this 'smell' of richness. The rototiler easily churned the soil down to a depth of twelve inches with no problems, the bounty of each garden grows with each year. And the one thing I have noticed, I grow alot of bush beans, usually in two week intervals. And where I plant the beans, the soil is darker, and richer than the area right next to it where it grew some other vegetable. Now I always rotate my garden crops, and I keep a log of everything I grow, from when I started as seedling to where and when they go into the garden to their final crop of whatever. I know what did what, how successful the germination, how productive of fruits, what didn't like the heat, etc. Also, last year I purchased a garden sprayer for fertilizing the garden. I use Miracle Grow in a light concentration mix with water and generally in the morning I give everything a mist. Everything I grew really blossomed and grew very healthy from this every other day misting. In certain area, a little too healthy. But I won't complain. Also, I save water in 55 gallon plastic buckets, in 5 gallon buckets, anything to hold water and then transfer to gallon size jugs with lids to keep the bugs out. Two years ago we had a pretty major drought and ended up going down to a creek and haul water just for the garden. Well, I've rambled on for some time. Don't wish to bore any of you out there. If you have any other questions Larry, please ask. I may not be able to respond immediately, but I will. Carter,C.

-- Carter, C. (elin7@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

No more than 50% manure, and sheet compost it at least 4 months,before planting.This info from our organic certification program director.Agree with Doreen's recommendations

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 09, 2001.

What I like about raised beds is that you don't have to make them all the same. Carrots like a sandy soil, therefore one bed is made with a sandy-loam mix. I would imagine there are about as many recommendations as to what to put in your boxes as there are gardeners.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.

I use "free form" raised beds. Basically dirt just raked into beds, that are 9 to 12 inches higher than the rest of the garden. Then I mulch it heavily all season long. Grass clippings, leaves, hay, straw, whatever, at least 6 inches deep by the time it gets hot.

I started out with a somewhat heavy clay, considering I revived an old garden bed, but for the last 3 years have been adding organic matter and mixing it in. Peat moss if I can get it on sale, compost I've made, the occasional bag of sand or potting soil, etc. and the soil is coming along really nice, and I'm starting to lose the red clay color and am at a light brown color right now.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.



I use a topsoil,peatmoss or vrmiculite mix with worm castings and rabbit or goat droppings in my square foot gardening raised beds.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.

After all the great ideas for soil, allow me to add my idea for the siding: I couldn't afford the amount of wood needed for raised beds and got tired of the raked edges crumbling down. I got baled straw, 36 inch chickenwire and rebar. I cut the rebar into 3 foot sections. I folded the chickenwire like a sandwich around one sheet of straw (bales seem to naturally separate every 6 inches or so), wove the rebar through the chickenwire and used the sledghammer to drive the rebar about 6" into the ground. This creates a barrier of about 12 inches in height.I spaced the rabar about every 3 feet. Then I raked the soil right up against this barrier. To my surprise the straw is only now starting to need replacement in the 4th year. I do live in Arizona however. Other places it might decompose more quickly. However, even with yearly reclacement of the straw, it still is cheap. I hope this was helpful.

-- Susanne McMillam (scmcm@earthlink.net), January 12, 2001.

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